A little over a week ago, I took a 1000 mile road trip with my dad up to Carlisle so that I could finally get to see the absolutely ludicrous projects that I have the pleasure of following right here on this very forum, as well as some of the wonderful people behind them. Having pretty much been a lurker for both my involvement on the internet and the car community in general, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Sure, there would be high horsepower Audis, as well as what seemed to be a very tight-knit community, but what would they think of some random kid showing up from Tennessee in his practically stock 200? Oh god, what would Nick think of that monstrous PM I sent him just before driving up?? Oh well, one way to find out...

Well, turns out any qualms I had prior to Carlisle were completely misplaced! Every single person I talked to was very accepting to a new member to their community, readily sociable, and willing to talk to me on a personal level. I got to know several of the faces behind the usernames here, and, at one point or another, each would tell me some variation of "WHAT?! You're on The Project Pad and you haven't started a project thread?!" Of course, I tried to object about how I'd start one when I started doing something interesting and began upping the power, but for now I- "Kevin. No one cares! We just like to see pictures of stuff!"

So here we are: Peer pressure at its finest!

Some of you may know me from Carlisle or MotorGeek (I went by my nickname Sven over there), but for those of you who don't know my genesis story, it actually starts with my very German dad. He originally bought this car from the original owner in early '97. I was not even 2 at the time, so I had the delightful fortune of growing up with this car. My relationship with this car spans practically my whole life, which, coupled with my inexplicable need to be be as descriptive and precise as possible, could easily bring this first post to epic proportions. So here's a quick summary:

My dad moved on to his B5 S4, so the 200 went on to my older sister through high school. Just like my siblings, I learned to drive on the 200 in parking lots, around the time I was 13. For reasons unknown, though, the car fostered a love in me not present in my siblings. After my sister left for college and I wasn't old enough to drive, the 200 didn't get driven much anymore, there wasn't any power (massive boost leaks) and the paint and interior were in a sorry state. But I fell in love anyway.

By chance, I started following Nick's (amd is the best) and later Chris' (loxxrider) work on their 200's, as a result of trying to learn more about these unique cars. Seeing videos and threads with their wicked machines excited me to one day doing something similar. At the time, though, no one in our family did a lick of work on cars; everything was done at the mechanic and only if something went catastrophically wrong. As I went through high school and the 200 got put back into service, though, I had already started planning out how I was going to buy the car off my dad and begin work on my own big turbo 200! But first, I needed to learn more about engines. Heck, I'd never even done my own oil change! I consoled myself by taking care of simple repairs like cosmetics and vacuum lines. But then, tragedy struck! Our mechanic informed us that the head gasket had started to go - probably from driving hard with a broken thermostat. My mother had always pushed us to sell (or even scrap!) the 200 because of the constant high costs of repair, and this was the last straw - waaaayy to much for my dad to contest. My parents were already looking for a replacement. Noooooooo!! My plans could never come to fruition, since I still didn't know jack about working on engines! However, inspired by the people who had first lead me to dream big and considering how they did everything themselves, I stepped up to the plate. As a desperate final plea to keep the car, I asked my dad if I could attempt the repair myself, since there was effectively nothing to lose. With his approval, I bought the Bentley's on eBay and read them cover-to-cover about 3 times, looking up any component I didn't fully understand.

After a long summer of hard work, she started up on the second attempt!! I absolutely cannot express my excitement in that moment, as I almost fully expected it to fail catastrophically. I still have trouble believing I did it.

If you've managed to read through this far, well, I'm impressed! I'll leave the rest of the story to be told by a pic dump of the 200's life since I began documenting it. Unfortunately, I don't have any shots of how filthy the engine bay was before I touched it, as I didn't realize what it would progress to. This is the earliest shot I have after I did extensive cleaning:

It is my theory that the PO washed the car with razor blades

Half way done! This takes eternity to do by hand.

Mmmmmmm... Well, that explains why the pressure gauge was just an atmospheric barometer.

Much better documented from this point on.

So that's where all my oil had been going

Did a little polishing while the head was at the shop

"Rebuilt" the lifters, so hopefully no more ticking? A big thanks to my good friend Sam for helping with the tough ones!

In retrospect, I wish I'd gotten head studs instead, but I was (am) short on funds, so I spared the expense at the time.

Minutes after first start!!

And back on the road!

Now with a running car, I could finally take care of all the other stuff that had been bothering me! For example this...

...got replaced with this! Lucked out at the scrap yard, since we never get Audi's down here. $10 a piece from a C4 100. Passenger side was put in later to match after I figured out the wiring modifictions I had to do

It'd be nice if I could use the other half of my gauges

And then there was this...

And finally, we made an appearance at Carlisle! (left to right: my dad, yours truly, and Nick - amd is the best)

I'll definitely be back next year! I met so many cool people that I don't think I could list them all without accidentally leaving someone out. I had a great time, and I got some pretty sweet rides, especially from chaloux and mushasho. They had what were easily the fastest cars I'd been in, so I was pretty much blown away - though I don't suspect that experience will be good for my wallet.

Anyways, my plan for now (basically stage 1) is to first get the car just as it should have been from the factory. The engine is pretty much taken care of for now. Over the course of eternity, I'll be taking care of the brakes, drivetrain slop, and especially suspension, which is really starting to show its age. And of course other miscellaneous upgrades, like platinum urS seats, if I can find them.

After that, I'm not exactly sure of the specifics, as I'm still tossing ideas around. Definitely standalone management on a built engine, but I want everything I do to be able to pass as stock to the uninitiated - semi sleeper status, basically. We'll see as time goes on. The biggest hurdle at the moment is funding, as I'm just a poor college student. Anyways, that's that. Thanks for taking the time to read through to the end! I hope it was at least mildly interesting!

Last edited by Aktapod on Sun Jul 10, 2016 8:17 pm, edited 10 times in total.

Epic first post! Nice work Kevin. You already have a serious amount of time put into this car, so keeping at it and doing things little by little (unless you win the lottery... hey, ya never know) is the best way to go. You're clearly dedicated to this car and it's very cool that it's been apart of your family and life for a long time. I look forward to seeing you again next year! I have a feeling there are going to be some *REALLY* big power cars there

This was a joy to read. You are very well written, so that helps a lot! I wish I could express my thoughts so clearly and eloquently.

This is definitely a project! It doesn't have to be all about performance mods to be interesting. As a matter of fact, it makes me so happy to see a 200 get brought back from the dead like this, that I'd almost rather read this than anything else! I'm impressed with your enthusiasm and your skill. You were right to switch to mechanical engineering. You've clearly got "the knack" (look it up on youtube if you don't know).

My suggestion is to chip it (or VEMS it) as soon as you possibly can. A ton of fun can be had on the stock turbo. Also, and this is a bit juvenile, taking the exhaust off just after the cats sounds great if you're looking for a little attention/aural bliss for a few days. You've done your research, so you know what to do but definitely suspension and upping the boost (chip or standalone) will really make for a fun car to have through school. People will call it a volvo, they may think it's ugly, but once they get a ride in it they will fall in love with it

This was a joy to read. You are very well written, so that helps a lot! I wish I could express my thoughts so clearly and eloquently.

This is definitely a project! It doesn't have to be all about performance mods to be interesting. As a matter of fact, it makes me so happy to see a 200 get brought back from the dead like this, that I'd almost rather read this than anything else! I'm impressed with your enthusiasm and your skill. You were right to switch to mechanical engineering. You've clearly got "the knack" (look it up on youtube if you don't know).

My suggestion is to chip it (or VEMS it) as soon as you possibly can. A ton of fun can be had on the stock turbo. Also, and this is a bit juvenile, taking the exhaust off just after the cats sounds great if you're looking for a little attention/aural bliss for a few days. You've done your research, so you know what to do but definitely suspension and upping the boost (chip or standalone) will really make for a fun car to have through school. People will call it a volvo, they may think it's ugly, but once they get a ride in it they will fall in love with it

Looking forward to reading more!

2nd on the VEMS ASAT (trailer park boys anyone?). VEMSing on a stock setup is a great way to learn tuning without making super crazy power to blow crap up. And then you can do stuff like launch control (see recent post in my thread) and all sorts of fun stuff. Plus it helps you appreciate how much work there is in the factory tune! And if you go PNP, you can always just un-PNP super easily.

This was a joy to read. You are very well written, so that helps a lot! I wish I could express my thoughts so clearly and eloquently.

This is definitely a project! It doesn't have to be all about performance mods to be interesting. As a matter of fact, it makes me so happy to see a 200 get brought back from the dead like this, that I'd almost rather read this than anything else! I'm impressed with your enthusiasm and your skill. You were right to switch to mechanical engineering. You've clearly got "the knack" (look it up on youtube if you don't know).

My suggestion is to chip it (or VEMS it) as soon as you possibly can. A ton of fun can be had on the stock turbo. Also, and this is a bit juvenile, taking the exhaust off just after the cats sounds great if you're looking for a little attention/aural bliss for a few days. You've done your research, so you know what to do but definitely suspension and upping the boost (chip or standalone) will really make for a fun car to have through school. People will call it a volvo, they may think it's ugly, but once they get a ride in it they will fall in love with it

And welcome to Kevin. A very pleasant intro post. You will feel right at home here.

I don't have a project thread on PP (yet). I have this B4 80 2.0 automatic I am doing some work on, but it is probably the lowest HP car on this site. Just to star somewhere, just like you. Hmm, I might put something up.

Awesome write up Kevin! It's great to see the love of these cars passed on. When I got my old S4 I wanted to do the same thing, big turbo build. It took a few years to finally get the funds to build the car, but once it was done it was soooo worth it! I agree with Chris, VEMS (preferably) or a chip will really make this car a lot of fun. I look forward to following the progress of this build. Good work man!

I also agree with Chris. Acquiring VEMS in the beginning gave the "moar power" relief while I fixed all of the other issues with the car. (of which they were many and still are)

It's nice to see another young guy on here. I was 19 when I bought my 200 2.5 years ago and was in and still am in a very similar situation as you are. As I'm sure everyone has told you, go big or save and wait to go big. This advice has saved me quite a bit of time and money.

How did you clean the orange fuzz from the headliner? I've been putting that off since I bought it. Damn wagon...

Also, I'm about 3 hours away in Northern Kentucky and drove through Knoxville on my way to vacation last week. I would've shit my pants had I seen another 200 on the road!

Wow, awesome reception guys! I'm glad you enjoyed it - I've never been very good at shorthand internet lingo as it usually comes out forced, so I've just resigned myself to just writing essays whenever I have something to say. Believe me, any semblance of elegance I might give in writing I can make up for in person.

loxxrider wrote:Kevin,

This was a joy to read. You are very well written, so that helps a lot! I wish I could express my thoughts so clearly and eloquently.

This is definitely a project! It doesn't have to be all about performance mods to be interesting. As a matter of fact, it makes me so happy to see a 200 get brought back from the dead like this, that I'd almost rather read this than anything else! I'm impressed with your enthusiasm and your skill. You were right to switch to mechanical engineering. You've clearly got "the knack" (look it up on youtube if you don't know).

My suggestion is to chip it (or VEMS it) as soon as you possibly can. A ton of fun can be had on the stock turbo. Also, and this is a bit juvenile, taking the exhaust off just after the cats sounds great if you're looking for a little attention/aural bliss for a few days. You've done your research, so you know what to do but definitely suspension and upping the boost (chip or standalone) will really make for a fun car to have through school. People will call it a volvo, they may think it's ugly, but once they get a ride in it they will fall in love with it

Looking forward to reading more!

Well, now this is absolute nonsense! I love reading your updates! They are always very concise and interesting!I hadn't really thought about it yet, but now I'm certain I'll go VEMS before I make other engine hardware changes. I did just pick up Casey's old chipped ECU though, because it was on sale for a great deal!

Should be fun (I wasn't patient, and, uh... sampled it), but I've got to fix the exhaust leak Nick mentioned. From just a visual inspection, it looks like I blew my turbo gasket, presumably from my crappy eBay manifold. My new gaskets came today!

AudiSport4000 wrote:Now I know it was your dad who was taking the creepy pictures of my gf

Hahahahaha!!! Man, we can't afford to take him out in public! Don't take it personally, though; he does it to everyone. Including me.

themagellan wrote:Glad to have you here, and it's cool to see an exact twin of my current 20v

Make sure you don't post any URS platinum seat leads here, or ya know I might take it.

I love reading your thread! Just reading your first few posts makes me immeasurably happy. Though, somehow it had escaped me that you also had a platinum interior. All I have to say is: It's on.

20VAvant wrote:I also agree with Chris. Acquiring VEMS in the beginning gave the "moar power" relief while I fixed all of the other issues with the car. (of which they were many and still are)

It's nice to see another young guy on here. I was 19 when I bought my 200 2.5 years ago and was in and still am in a very similar situation as you are. As I'm sure everyone has told you, go big or save and wait to go big. This advice has saved me quite a bit of time and money.

How did you clean the orange fuzz from the headliner? I've been putting that off since I bought it. Damn wagon...

Also, I'm about 3 hours away in Northern Kentucky and drove through Knoxville on my way to vacation last week. I would've shit my pants had I seen another 200 on the road!

Great write-up! Looking forward to updates.

Stop by anytime if you happen to be here again! I've never even seen another T44 here, so it gets lonely amongst all the trucks and Hondas.That orange glop can be a pain without the right tool! I got it off pretty easily after switching off to a steel brush, but be aware that it can stick to everything and turn it into Mars.

I hadn't anticipated such an overwhelming response from posting, so I apologize if I couldn't address you personally; I've got to get busy packing as I leave for Audi-land tomorrow! I do appreciate all your inputs, and I'll check out that lead on the seats, if I don't beat magellan to them! If not, dying ecru is an excellent suggestion I hadn't thought of.

Welp, I'm back! And, boy do I have an update! I hate to step on the toes of everyone who's updating their exotic engine swaps and million whp projects, but since I last posted, I have successfully managed to... fix a noise!

That's right folks! No longer do I zip by other drivers while they, admittedly, probably don't think "Hey, does that guy have boost leak?" If fact, had they taken any interest at all, it turns out they'd have been wrong anyways.

Yep. I blew a turbo gasket - and it's all thanks to my own stupidity! I didn't take the exhaust off when I rebuilt the head last year, so the weight of the downpipe/exhaust dictated the installation of the turbo, making it so it had to be crooked for everything to line up. "No matter! I'll just use the turbo nuts to bring it into alignment," I thought naively, without adding any torque to compensate for the added force. I recognized this might be an issue, but I thought it would be fine. I could actually hand turn the nuts after the dp was removed this time. Oh well; live and learn. At least nothing was warped.

Of course, I separated the dp from the exhaust this time, and everything lined up perfectly. I punched out my rattling cat at this point, since it's been driving me nuts, but left the other one to save the planet. Then I took off the muffler assembly, put the "cat" back on and went for a drive, a la loxxrider!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! It sounded godly on throttle! Of course, I ducked my head in shame trying to slip through the neighborhood as quietly as possibly, but man did it drone! I took some friends joyriding and had a great time putting smiles on their faces from the absurdity of it all, as well as the BANG when I shifted. Loads of fun terrorizing the backroads, but it kind of hurt my ears after a while - especially downshifting - so I turned her back home. Not before taking some videos though! ...all of which turned out terribly, audio-wise, so I won't bother posting them.

While I was under the car for the exhaust (for pretty much the first time, as I never had a way of properly lifting the car before), something caught my eye. The driver's side subframe bushing (I think) is absolutely trashed!

It's kind of hard to tell from the picture, but it's pretty much just... gone. I wonder if this is why there's so much play in the drivetrain on/off throttle. This has been an issue for literally decades, so hopefully I can get that resolved now!

Also, I finally adjusted the clutch! Dropped it from around 22 cm of travel (literally as far out as possible) to just over the brake pedal at 16 cm. Maybe my cruise control will finally work now that the clutch vacuum switch has somewhere to sit? I keep forgetting to test it, since I never use it anyways.

Most importantly, though, I've had Casey's old ECU sitting around, waiting until I resolved my noise issue, so I'M FINALLY CHIPPED!! There was nothing like rolling into boost for the first time! After so many years, I knew exactly how much the Audi should pull and even the pitch the turbo should whistle, so the experience was exhilarating! I couldn't help but laugh maniacally the whole way to the rev limiter! It's really woken up third gear. And it took an entire week before I wanted more! I had the opportunity to get a cheap ECU with IA Stage III for moar boosts, but I've decided I'll reserve those last few psi for when I go VEMS.

Anyways, that's that. Thanks for reading through, if you did. Here are some bonus pictures from when I was away the last few weeks:

For anyone wondering, a legit Sport Quattro actually has a plastic fuel door. I found this mildly interesting.

Keep it up, man. That subframe bushing does look toast. Are your engine and transmission mounts stock? that is where a lot of the drivetrain slack is, along with differential mounts, and differential wear depending on how much slack the gears have. I'm running motorsport spec engine mounts and trans mounts and I feel NO slop to the front of the car but I can still feel it to the rear off throttle. I'm on stock mounts in the rear still

Yep! Stock everything. I did change out the tranny mounts because they were destroyed, but otherwise it's all from the factory. I'll probably start accumulating some stiffer parts and get it all done in one big suspension overhaul! I have an extra center diff without excessive play if that ends up the case, and maybe I could shim the others if necessary?

Also do you find that there's a lot of jarring or noticeable vibration with motorsport spec mounts?

Kevin, I have Motorsport spec mounts in the 4k, trans and engine. What do you remember from the ride two months later? I don't really notice anymore but I do drive about 60mph on the highway because above 3600rpm the NVH in the cabin becomes a bit much. 01E swap is absolutely in my future.

I don't think the ms spec will break, it's just a hunk of aluminum and a hunk of delrin. Maybe the track density are crap. Either way Jared is your man.